CNRS - Engineering Scienceshttp://www.cnrs.fr
Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiquefrCNRSThu, 21 Mar 2019 20:59:43 +0100Vascular development: finding the right itineraryhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3182.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3182.htmResearchers at the CNRS, Université Paris Diderot and Université Paris Descartes have demonstrated how the growth of veins and arteries unfolds in embryonic development. Their findings prove that, contrary to prevailing opinion, blood exits arteries at an upstream point of the vessel, not its end. Additionally, veins develop in an interlaced pattern between arteries, where blood passes through the capillaries. Results appear in the December 21, 2018 edition of Communications Biology. Fri, 21 Dec 2018 11:00:00 +0100First projects selected for the European initiative on quantum technologieshttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3176.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3176.htmOn October 29, 2018 the European Union announced the projects selected for the FET Flagship on Quantum Technologies, a European research program of unprecedented scope, with funding of one billion euros over ten years. Its objective is to develop quantum technology applications by strengthening partnerships between research and industry, in the fields of measurement, computation, simulation, and information processing and communication. The EU selected twenty projects, nineteen of which are research projects: ten of these research projects are based on French teams, and among these teams thirteen are laboratories affiliated with the CNRS, while two are coordinated by French organizations, Sorbonne Université and Thales.Mon, 29 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0100Cellular dust provides new hope for regenerative medicinehttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3173.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3173.htmWhile stem cells have the most therapeutic potential, the benefits of regenerative medicine may best be mobilised using extracellular vesicles (EVs), also known in the past as cellular dust. A team of researchers from CNRS, AP-HP, INSERM and Paris Descartes and Paris Diderot Universities have tested these vesicles for the first time in a porcine model for the treatment of post-operative digestive fistulas. Their results, which yielded a 100% success rate and appear in the 23 October 2018 edition of ACS Nano, open the door to testing in humans and broader possibilities for applications. Tue, 23 Oct 2018 06:01:00 +0100The bark side of the force http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3146.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3146.htmWhat forces enable trees to stand upright? To grow straight, plants need a motor system that controls their posture by generating forces to offset gravity. Scientists have long thought that this motor force was controlled only by the internal forces induced in wood. In a study published on 4 August 2018 in New Phytologist, researchers from the CNRS and Cirad show that bark is also involved in the generation of mechanical stresses in several tree species. Mon, 06 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0100CNRS to play major part in ESOF 2018http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3138.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3138.htmToulouse is to host the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), Europe's largest interdisciplinary gathering on science and innovation, from 9 to 14 July 2018. In parallel with this event for researchers, the city is organising the 'Science in the City' festival from 7 to 15 July, with over 120 events aimed at sharing science with the public. For around ten days, the pulse of Toulouse, European City of Science 2018, will beat to the rhythm of science. CNRS and its laboratories will be playing a major role in both the forum and the festival, two unprecedented events for Toulouse and France.Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0100Towards an authentically human intelligent habitat http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3133.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3133.htmHow can technology improve our housing conditions? How will we interact with intelligent housing? What information is it possible and desirable to share? What future legislative framework for these data is required? Organized by the CNRS, Montpellier University, and Paul Valéry Montpellier 3 University, the Human at Home (HUT ) project will look into these questions thanks to an observatory apartment that will be inhabited from October 2018. A member of the consortium, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole is supporting this project, which is part of its Intelligent City approach. The HUT experiment is inaugurated in Montpelier on June 26, 2018.Tue, 26 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0100Jacket for cardiorespiratory monitoring of laboratory animalshttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3130.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3130.htmTo meet their objective of offering connected devices for the physiological monitoring of laboratory animals without recourse to anesthesia or surgery, researchers from the TIMC-IMAG laboratory (CNRS / Université Grenoble Alpes / Grenoble INP / VetAgro Sup) have developed a jacket that measures rodent cardiac and respiratory activity. This patented tool soon to be released by Etisense, a TIMC-IMAG spin-off company, paves the way for enhancing the quality of research data and advancing animal welfare. Thu, 14 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0100A new gelling molecule for growing neurons in 3Dhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3113.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3113.htmA multidisciplinary team of researchers from CNRS, INSERM and Université Toulouse III  Paul Sabatier has developed a hydrogel that can grow, develop and differentiate neural stem cells. This biomaterial could provide new paths for the development of in vitro cellular models of brain tissue or of in vivo tissue reconstruction. This work is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on May 14, 2018.Mon, 14 May 2018 23:00:00 +0100Fish in schools can take it easyhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3111.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3111.htmUsing a new computer model, researchers at the Ecole Centrale de Marseille and CNRS have shown that a fish expends less energy when it swims in a school, because neighbouring fish produce a 'suction' effect. This work will be published on 11 May 2018 in Physical Review Letters.Wed, 09 May 2018 00:00:00 +0100Momentum: CNRS issues second call for proposals from young male and female researchershttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3093.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3093.htmThe CNRS is issuing its second Momentum call for proposals from young male and female researchers around the world, to support their projects in emerging and innovative areas. Researchers in all fields may apply. Winners will receive funding for three years.Thu, 05 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0100BIABooster: a more sensitive device for characterizing DNA in blood circulationhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3083.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3083.htmDeveloped and patented1 in 2012 and 2014 in the Laboratoire d'Analyse et d'Architecture des Systèmes (LAAS-CNRS) and implemented industrially by Picometrics-Technologies, BIABooster technology can characterize DNA with new precision and sensitivity. When used to analyze residual DNA circulating in the blood, it has identified promising signatures for monitoring patients with cancer. These signatures, presented in the March 20, 2018 issue of Analytical Chemistry, could be confirmed by a larger study led by teams at the Université Paris Descartes, INSERM, AP-HM and AP-HP (Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou). Tue, 27 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0100Antoine Petit named Chairman and CEO of the CNRShttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3055.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3055.htmAntoine Petit has been named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CNRS. His appointment was confirmed on January 24, 2018, by French president Emmanuel Macron upon the recommendation of Frédérique Vidal, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation. An exceptional grade professor, Antoine Petit was president of the French National Institute for Computer Science and Applied Mathematics (Inria) since October 2014. He acts as non-executive president of the IHEST (Institut des Hautes Etudes pour la Science et la Technologie) since April 2017.Wed, 24 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0100Towards better understanding of railway ballasthttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3029.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3029.htmSNCF engineers have been using mathematical models for many years to simulate the dynamic behavior of railways. These models have not been able to take into account large portions of the track have been extremely limited at modelling ballast, the gravel layer located under railway tracks. This is why SNCF Innovation & Recherche asked for help from specialists in wave propagation for all types of media and at varied scales: CNRS and INSA Strasbourg1 researchers. Together, they have shown that a large part of the energy introduced by a train passing is trapped by the ballast. Their work, published in the November issue of Computational Mechanics, shows that this trapping phenomenon, which is very dependent on train speed, could cause accelerated ballast degradation in railway tracks. Wed, 22 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0100Anne Peyroche named interim president of CNRS http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3011.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3011.htmAnne Peyroche today assumed the role of interim president of the CNRS. She has taken over from Alain Fuchs, who held the position since 2010. (Fuchs is the new president of Paris Sciences & Lettres, also as of today.) Peyroche has been CNRS Chief Research Officer since January 2016.
Tue, 24 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0100Gravitational waves shed first light on mergers of neutron stars http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3005.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3005.htmThis is a major breakthrough in more than one respect. The scientists of the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (which includes the CNRS) have for the first time observed the gravitational waves emitted by the merger of two neutron stars, rather than of two black holes as in previous cases. In another first, the light emitted from the source of gravitational waves was observed in the following hours, days and weeks, by 70 other ground- and space-based observatories. This series of observations marks the birth of multi-messenger1 astronomy, and has produced a wealth of results, including a solution to the mystery of gamma-ray bursts and that of the origin of the heaviest elements (such as lead, gold and platinum), as well as new insights into the properties of neutron stars, and an independent measurement of the rate of expansion of the Universe. These various findings are described in a dozen scientific articles published on 16 October 2017 by a number of researchers from CNRS laboratories (more than 200 for one of the publications), members of the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration, and partner astronomy groups. Mon, 16 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0100New developments in gravitational astronomyhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3003.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/3003.htmPress conference (French only)
Monday 16 October 2017 at 4 p.m.
At the CNRS headquarters - 3 rue Michel-Ange  Paris 16eFri, 13 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0100The CNRS congratulates Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne, winners of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2991.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2991.htmThe 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to the physicists Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne for the detection of gravitational waves, predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. The discovery was announced on 11 February 2016 by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration1 of which the CNRS is the only French member. It is the result of both theoretical and experimental work by a host of scientists over several decades. The award is therefore an encouragement to the entire gravitational wave community, in which Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne were pioneers, as were the French researchers Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour, who recently received the CNRS Gold Medal2. The CNRS pays tribute to the recognition by the Nobel Prize jury of this major breakthrough.Tue, 03 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0100Gravitational waves: first joint LIGO-Virgo detectionhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2989.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2989.htmScientists in the LIGO and Virgo collaborations have achieved the first ever three-detector observation of the gravitational waves emitted by the merger of two black holes. This is the first signal detected by the Advanced Virgo instrument, which joined observing runs by the two LIGO detectors on 1 August, and confirms that it is fully operational. It opens the way to considerably more accurate localization of the sources of gravitational waves. The discovery is published by the international collaboration that runs the three detectors, including teams from the CNRS, in the journal Physical Review Letters. The announcement was made at a press briefing during a meeting of the G7-science1 in Turin, Italy. On the very same day, the CNRS awarded two Gold Medals to physicists Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour for their major contributions to the detection of gravitational waves2.Wed, 27 Sep 2017 18:30:00 +0100Two CNRS 2017 Gold Medals awarded to physicists Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2983.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2983.htmIn 2017, the CNRS has awarded two Gold Medals, to the physicists Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour for their major contributions to the detection of gravitational waves, first announced on 11 February 20161. Through his work on stabilized lasers, Alain Brillet, a visionary in the development of gravitational wave detectors, is one of the fathers of Europe's Virgo instrument. The theoretical work of Thibault Damour, a specialist in black holes and gravitational waves, played a decisive role in the analysis of data from the gravitational wave detectors. The prize, France's highest scientific distinction, is awarded by the CNRS Management Board and will be presented on 14 December 2017 during a ceremony held at the Collège de France.Wed, 27 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0100Magnetic cellular Legos for the regenerative medicine of the futurehttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2973.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2973.htmBy incorporating magnetic nanoparticles in cells and developing a system using miniaturized magnets, researchers at the Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes (CNRS/Université Paris Diderot), in collaboration with the Laboratoire Adaptation Biologique et Vieillissement (CNRS/UPMC) and the Centre de Recherche Cardiovasculaire de Paris (Inserm/Université Paris Descartes), have succeeded in creating cellular magnetic Legos. They were able to aggregate cells using only magnets and without an external supporting matrix, with the cells then forming a tissue that can be deformed at will. This approach, which is detailed in Nature Communications on September 12, 2017, could prove to be a powerful tool for biophysical studies, as well as the regenerative medicine of tomorrow.Tue, 12 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0100Electricity production: when enzymes rival platinum http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2961.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2961.htmMaking a biocell that is as effective as a platinum fuel cell: that's the feat that researchers in the Laboratoire de Bioénergétique et Ingénierie des Protéines (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université) have achieved, in collaboration with the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (CNRS/Université de Bordeaux) and the Institut Universitaire des Systèmes Thermiques Industriels (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Université). Three years after making their first prototype biocell, the researchers have just reached a new milestone and increased its performance and stability. This biocell could, in the long run, offer an alternative to fuel cells that require rare and costly metals, such as platinum. Their work was published in Energy & Environmental Science on August 17, 2017.Wed, 30 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0100Turbulence in planetary cores excited by tideshttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2947.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2947.htmVeritable shields against high-energy particles, planets' magnetic fields are produced by iron moving in their liquid core. Yet the dominant model for explaining this system does not fit the smallest celestial bodies. Researchers at the Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre (IRPHE, CNRS/Aix Marseille Université/Centrale Marseille) and the University of Leeds have proposed a new model suggesting that turbulence in the liquid cores is due to tides produced by gravitational interactions between celestial bodies. The model infers that instead of being due to large, turbulent molten iron vortices far from the surface, movements in the core are due to the superposition of many wave-type motions. This work was published in Physical Review Letters on July 21, 2017.Mon, 24 Jul 2017 00:00:00 +0100Sound projection: Are Stradivarius violins really better?http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2921.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2921.htmResearchers at the Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (CNRS/UPMC) have shown that recently-made violins have better sound projection1 than those built by the famous violinmaker Antonio Stradivarius. This study, published in the journal PNAS on May 8th 2017, also shows that, despite the prestige of these old Italian violins, listeners prefer the sound made by recent instruments and cannot distinguish the two. Tue, 09 May 2017 00:00:00 +0100When liquids turn to solids: the mystery of corn starch elucidatedhttp://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2925.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2925.htmSome particle suspensions, such as grains of starch in water that are liquid at rest, suddenly solidify when they are subjected to vigorous shearing or impact. This fascinating behavior, called shear thickening, can make it possible to "walk on water" or design lightweight and supple jackets that are nevertheless highly shock-resistant. Scientists at the Institut Universitaire des Systèmes Thermiques Industriels (Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS) have now shown experimentally that this behavior results from a transition involving friction between the particles and the presence of short-range repulsive forces (of electrostatic or physicochemical origin). This study was published in PNAS on 1st May 2017.Tue, 02 May 2017 00:00:00 +0100Electronic synapses that can learn: towards an artificial brain?http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2903.htm
http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/2903.htmResearchers from the CNRS, Thales, and the Universities of Bordeaux, Paris-Sud, and Evry have created an artificial synapse capable of learning autonomously. They were also able to model the device, which is essential for developing more complex circuits. The research was published in Nature Communications on 3 April 2017.Mon, 03 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0100